Imam Al-Mahdi (a.j)

Imam Mahdi (a.j)'s Companions

Aw'tad

According to narrations, "Aw'tad are 30 people that are Imam's special companions.

They always help Imam (a.j) continuously. When one of them passes away, another worthy individual will take over their position.

They are pure and brave men who are like mountains, spending their time helping Imam (a.j).

Imam Sadiq (as) said, "For al-Mahdi at the time of his occultation, there are 30 attendants/companions that with their presence there will be no fear for Imam (a.j.)"

━━━━━━•••━━━━━━

Imam Muhammad Taqi (as) declared,"Allah will gather his followers around him. Their number will be 313, the same as the companions of Badr. Fifty of them will be women.

They will gather from different parts of the earth." And this is the exegesis of Allah's Words, 'Wherever you are, Allah will bring you all together; surely Allah has power over all things.'

This is the number of companions after the aggregation of which, Imam (a.j) will announce his reappearance from the Holy Kaaba.

All these individuals will be amongst the sincere ones and when this number swells up to ten thousand, then by Allah's order, Imam (a.j) will establish himself (as Allah's Representative).

He (a.j) has a tablet in which the details of his companions have been written down like their number, names, cities, natures, titles and even their family tree.

They will be at the highest level of faith.'

━━━━━━•••━━━━━━

General traits

In one tradition Imam Sadiq (as) has mentioned the general traits of the companions of Imam Mahdi (a.j):

• Their hearts are stronger than iron.

• They will be having complete faith in Allah. There is no place for doubts in their hearts.

• They shall be tougher than stones. They will uproot the mountain only by turning towards it.

• They will conquer every city they enter with their standard.

• They are like swift eagles, mounted on fast horses.

• They will touch the saddle of Imam's (a.j) mount to seek blessings.

• They will be encircling Imam (a.j) to safeguard him from all calamities and misfortune.

• They will fulfill every desire of Imam (a.j) with their heart and soul.

• They will not sleep in the nights.

• They will buzz like honeybees in their prayers.

• They will pass the night in worship and in the morning, they will be seen mounted on horses, ready for helping Imam (a.j).

• They will be devout worshippers by night and like lions in the day.

• They will be more submissive and obedient to Imam (a.j) than a maidservant.

• They are like burning lamps and their hearts are like glowing beacons.

• They are fearful of Allah (swt) and testify to his unity.

• They are hopeful of martyrdom in the way of Allah (swt).

• Their slogan will be "O Avenger of Hussain!"

• When they march, their awe will precede them by a distance of one month's journey.

• These are the ones who seek Allah's pleasure.

• Allah (swt) will help Imam (a.j) through them.

━━━━━━•••━━━━━━

How will they gather?

The Prophet (saw) prophesied, "When our Qaim (a.j) will establish himself, Allah will gather the people of the East and West.

These people will come together in one place in the same manner as the leaves gather in one place in autumn."

According to another tradition from the Holy Prophet (saw) these people will gather in one place with the blinking of an eye. They will spend the night in their homes and by dawn-break, will reach Makkah Al Mukarramah.

━━━━━━•••━━━━━━

The Helpers of Imam (a.j)

The helpers of Imam Mahdi (a.j) are among those who support him after his appearance, and they join his army.

This means all the people who join Imam (a.j) after the battle starts.

There are three groups among the helpers that join the army of Imam (a.j) gradually:

1. The first group consists of those who join him after he appears and the news of his battle reach Mecca.

After Imam (a.j) appears and these people join him, he starts his battle and leaves Mecca for Medina.

2. The second group consists of all the believers, who join the army of Imam (a.j) in the way and fight against the enemies of Allah.

3. The third group consists of the forces and armies that join Imam (a.j) from far and close places in order to fight against the army of Sofiani and to support Imam Mahdi's battle.

━━━━━━•••━━━━━━

The Oath of Allegiance

According to a hadith from
Imam Ali (as), The people's oath of allegiance and Imam Mahdi (a.j)'s oath of allegiance will be the following:

The people's oath of allegiance will be:

• To never engage in robbery and depravity.

• To never humiliate someone.

• To never swear at a believer and to never attack someone's house.

• To never shed blood or beat anyone unjustly.

• To avoid storing gold, silver, wheat and grain.

• Never consume orphan's property.

• If they aren't sure of some matters, they mustn't become a witness for that.

• To not ruin any mosques.

• To not drink alcohol! wear silk and fur clothing and not have anything to do with homosexuality!

• Never block the path for people and to not cause any paths to become unsafe for anyone.

• Be satisfied with little.

• Be advocate of purity and dislike impurity and sins.

• Enjoin good and forbid evil.

• To wear rough clothes and take soil as their headrest.

• Fulfill jihad for the path of Allah (swt) and truth.

And as for himself, Imam (a.j) will pledge his oath:

To walk from the same path as them, wear similar clothes as them, have similar way of transport as them. Be content with little. With the help of Allah (swt) fill the earth with justice and peace just as it has been filled with oppression. And to worship Allah (swt) the way it is fit.